The present invention relates to a camera mounting apparatus, and in particular to a camera mounting bracket suitable for use with a camera, in particular a "downward looking" camera with a rotating field of view.

Conventionally, cameras which are capable of looking downwards, such as CCTV cameras are mounted on an arm which extends outwards from an upright post or pole. This typically provides a blind-spot for the camera, as it is unable to "see" the segment of its 360° field of view which is blocked by the post. This blind-spot may be from 10° to 30°, depending on the diameter of the pole.

A skilled person will appreciate that cameras which have a rotating field of view include so-called "PTZ" cameras, which are able to pan (i.e. rotate), tilt and zoom as desired.

It is desired to provide a camera mounting apparatus which can be used to mount a camera to a vertical support without obscuration of the camera's field of view, thus permitting the camera to be capable of achieving substantially a 360° field of view. Such cameras may be useful for surveillance, typically monitoring functions or activity at a remote site.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera mounting apparatus, the apparatus including a base member configured for attachment to an upwardly facing surface of a post or similar substrate, a camera mounting element, and at least one planar support element, wherein the or each planar support element connects the camera mounting element to the base member and spaces the camera mounting element from the base member; the camera mounting element defines a vertical rotational axis; and the or each planar support element is arranged such that the plane of the support element extends along a radius from the rotational axis.

The camera mounting apparatus of the invention is configured for attachment to the top of a post or pole, for example, and the only element which falls within the field of view of a camera carried by the apparatus is the or each planar support element, and this is arranged so that it is only the thickness dimension of the planar support element which falls within the field of view of the camera as a result of the arrangement of the support element along a radius of the rotational axis. It has been found that a camera mounted to the mounting apparatus of the invention is able to focus "around" the planar support element such that substantially no loss in the field of view is achieved.

In embodiments in which the apparatus comprises two or more planar support elements, each planar support element is aligned along a respective radius from the rotational axis and the respective radii are different to each other.

It will be appreciated that the smaller the thickness dimension of the planar support element, the easier it is for a camera carried by the apparatus to focus around the support element. In other words, the thinner the support element, the less its impact will be on the field of view. However, the support element must be sufficiently strong to fulfil its purpose of supporting the camera mounting element. Thus, the or each support element may have a thickness dimension from lmm to 5mm. A thickness of 2mm or less renders the support element effectively invisible to the camera. Accordingly, the thickness of the or each support element is suitably 2mm or less.

However, power and data cables which supply the camera are typically 4mm in diameter.

Accordingly, the thickness of the or each support element may be 4mm or less. In embodiments in which the support element is greater than 2mm, there may be a degree of blurring of the image as the camera pans across the or each support element. However, this may be acceptable to the user.

To provide a suitable strength and resilience, the or each support element may be formed from a metal or a polymeric material. The metal may be a single metal, such as aluminium or it may be an alloy, such as steel. Alternatively, in embodiments in which support element if formed from a polymeric material, the polymeric material may include one or more reinforcing components, such as carbon fibres and/or glass fibres. The or each support element may be coated to provide a weather-protection layer. For example, the or each support element may be coated with a polymeric coating or, where the or each support element is steel, it may be galvanised, for example. In a further embodiment of the invention, the or each support element may be formed from a substantially transparent material, such as a transparent polymer or glass (e.g. a toughened or reinforced glass material). In such cases, the impact of the support element(s) on the image obtained by the camera is further minimised. Cables which provide the camera with power and transmit data to and/or from the camera typically are located within the post or pole. They then need to extend to the camera, which in use is secured to the camera mounting element. In order to achieve this, the or each cable may be located adjacent to a side portion of a respective one of the support elements. For example, the or each support element may define a proximal side portion which faces towards the camera in use and a distal side portion which faces away from the camera in use. The cable(s) are suitably located adjacent to the distal side portion of the support element(s). As data cables desirably are run such that they do not include any bends or kinks which subtend or have an angle greater than 45°, the distal side portion and/or the proximal side portion of the support elements are suitably curved. In this way, the cable route from the post/pole to the camera mounting element may avoid angles greater than 45°.

The distal side portion and/or the proximal side portion of the or each support element suitably defines a cable guide channel within which may be located a cable for connection to the camera in use. The or each cable guide channel may have a curved (e.g. concave) or "V"-shaped cross section.

The focal point of the camera, when attached to the camera mounting element, suitably rotates about the rotational axis or is aligned with the rotational axis.

It will be understood that the or each planar support element supports the camera mounting element and spaces it from the base member. Suitably, the or each planar support element vertically spaces the camera mounting element from the base member such that in use, the camera mounting element is located above the base member. Thus, the camera mounting element may be vertically aligned with and vertically spaced from the base member in use.

The camera is suitably suspended from a downwardly facing surface of the camera mounting element. Accordingly, the camera mounting element may define a substantially planar mounting surface, which is suitably downwardly facing in use, and the camera may be secured to the mounting surface.

In an embodiment of the invention, the camera mounting apparatus includes two planar support elements, wherein the planar support elements are spaced apart, both of the planar support elements connect the base member to the camera mounting element, and each of the planar support elements is arranged such that the plane of the support element extends along a radius from the rotational axis. Thus, the two support elements are configured with their respective planes along different radii from the rotational axis. The two support elements are thus angularly spaced from each other.

In a further embodiment, the camera mounting apparatus includes three planar support elements which extend from the base member to the camera mounting element. The planar support elements are angularly spaced from each other about the rotational axis. They may be spaced from each other by between 60° and 180°. For example, the angular spacing between adjacent support elements may be: 60:150:150; 90:90:180; 120:120:120; and so on.

In a yet further embodiment, the camera mounting apparatus may include four planar support elements. Again, these are angularly spaced from each other about the axis of rotation, and suitably have a 90° angle between adjacent support elements.

The skilled person will appreciate that more than four planar support elements may be used. However, while a greater number of planar support elements increases the stability of the camera mounting apparatus, increasing the number of support elements also increases the costs, the weight of the apparatus and the number of angular orientations of the camera for which the picture quality may be less than optimum. Accordingly, the number of planar support elements is a balance between stability and cost/weight/picture quality. With this in mind, the camera mounting apparatus suitably includes from 2 to 4 planar support elements.

In one embodiment, the camera mounting element includes a first body portion and a second body portion, wherein the first body portion includes one or more fixing elements configured to secure a camera to the camera mounting element, and the or each planar support element is fixed to the second body portion. It will be appreciated that the first body portion is different to the second body portion in this embodiment. The or each fixing element may comprise an aperture or through hole configured to receive therein or therethrough a fixing, such as a bolt or screw for example. This type of fixing element allows for different cameras to be fitted to the camera mounting element. In this embodiment, the first body portion suitably defined the rotational axis. In an alternative embodiment, the camera mounting element may have a cross-section which is circular, triangular or rectangular in shape, wherein a central portion of the camera mounting element defines or includes one or more fixing elements for a camera or a camera housing and the planar support elements are secured to outer portions of the camera mounting element. The skilled person will appreciate that the camera mounting element may have differently shaped cross-sections.

The camera mounting element may be substantially the same shape as the base member. In this embodiment, a single component may function as either the camera mounting element or the base member, which in turn reduces the number of different parts that need to be manufactured and stocked. This further reduces tooling costs.

The camera mounting apparatus may further include a camera housing within which may be located a camera. The camera is suitably secured to the camera mounting element via the housing. Thus, the camera may be secured to the camera housing and the camera housing may be secured to the camera mounting element.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera system including a camera and a camera mounting apparatus as defined anywhere herein in connection with the first aspect of the invention, wherein the camera is secured to the camera mounting element of the mounting apparatus. The camera may be secured directly to the camera mounting element or it may be secured to the camera mounting element via a camera housing, wherein the camera housing is secured to the camera mounting element and the camera is secured to and located within the housing. Thus, the camera may be located with the housing which in turn is secured to the camera mounting element of the camera apparatus.

In an embodiment of the invention, the camera is configured to rotate about the vertical rotational axis. Thus, the focal point of the camera may be aligned with the vertical rotational axis or it may rotate about the vertical rotational axis.

The base member is suitably secured to an upwardly facing surface of a post or pole (i.e. it is mounted to the top of a post/pole) and the camera mounting element is suitably vertically spaced from the base member. In this embodiment, the camera is mounted above the post and the post does not interfere with the horizontal field of view of the camera. The camera system of the second aspect of the invention suitably also includes a mounting post or pole. The post may be in the form of a hollow cylinder which defines therein a channel within which is located one or more cables that provide power to the camera and a wired data connection to the camera, or the post may otherwise define one or more cable channels. The power and data may be transmitted along a single common cable or separate power and data cables may be used. The cables are suitably guided from the post to the camera via a cable guide channel defined by the or one of the planar support elements. The cable guide channel may be defined along the distal side portion of the or each planar support element. In embodiments in which separate cables are used for power and data, the cables may be located adjacent to the same or different planar support elements. For example, a power cable may be located adjacent to a first planar support element and a data cable may be located adjacent to a second planar support element. The skilled person will appreciate that the features described and defined in connection with any aspect of the invention and the embodiments thereof may be combined in any combination, regardless of whether the specific combination is expressly mentioned herein. Thus, all such combinations are considered to be made available to the skilled person. An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a camera mounting apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the planar support elements shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 mounted on a pole; and Figure 4 is perspective view of a second embodiment of a camera mounting apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention. For the avoidance of doubt, the skilled person will appreciate that in this specification, the terms "up", "down", "front", "rear", "upper", "lower", "width", etc. refer to the orientation of the components as found in the example when installed for normal use as shown in the Figures. Figure 1 shows a camera mounting apparatus 2 comprising a base member 4, a camera mounting element 6 and three planar support elements 8.

The base member 4 and the camera mounting element 6 are both substantially triangular in shape and the planar support elements 8 are secured to the apices of the base member 4 and the camera mounting element 6.

A camera housing 10 is secured to the underside (i.e. the side which faces the base member 4) of the camera mounting element 6. The camera housing 10 is a conventional housing for a downward facing PTZ CCTV camera (not shown).

A vertical axis (not shown) which passes through the centre of the camera mounting element 6 and the centre of the base member defines a rotational axis about which a camera located within the camera housing 10 rotates in use. Thus, the vertical rotational axis passes through the centre of the camera housing 10.

The plane of each of the planar support elements 8 extends radially from the vertical rotational axis and the planar support elements 8 are equally angularly spaced about the vertical rotational axis. Thus, the angular spacing between adjacent planar support elements 8 is 120°.

For strength and resistance to corrosion, the base member 4, camera mounting element 6 and planar support elements 8 are formed from galvanised steel or stainless steel. However, other materials, such as aluminium, carbon fibre or fibreglass are within the scope of the invention. The planar support element 8 is shown in more detail in Figure 2. The support element 8 is formed from a main body portion 12 which is planar and defines therein a number of apertures 14 in order to reduce weight. The main body portion is 2mm thick, which renders it substantially invisible to a camera carried by the mounting apparatus 2. The main body portion 12 has a curved proximal side edge portion 16 and a corresponding curved distal side edge portion 18. As noted herein, the curved nature of the side edge portions 16, 18 avoids any reduction in the performance of a data cable which runs adjacent to one of the side edge portions 16, 18. In connection with this, a channel is defined by the distal side edge portion 18 into which a portion of a cable (not shown) may be located in use. The main body portion 12 has an upper end portion 20 to which is secured an upper fixing plate 22 via which the upper portion 20 is secured to the camera mounting element 6. The main body portion 12 also has a lower end portion 24 to which is secured a lower fixing plate 26 via which the lower portion 24 is secured to the base member 4. The upper and lower portions 20, 24 of the main body portion 12 may be secured to the respective camera mounting element 6 and base member 4 in any known way, such as via the use of threaded fixings, welding or adhesive.

Figure 3 shows the camera mounting apparatus 2 described hereinabove connected to the top of a post 28. The base member 4 is secured to the top of the post 28 via a pair of threaded fixings 30 which pass through apertures defined by the base member and are received by respective threaded receivers defined by an upwardly facing portion of the post 28.

The camera housing 10 is secured to the camera mounting element 6 via threaded fixings which pass through selected ones of mounting apertures 32 and into an upper portion of the camera housing 10.

Figure 4 shows a second embodiment of the invention. In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, a camera mounting apparatus 102 is provided. The mounting apparatus 102 comprises a base member 104, a camera mounting element 106 and a pair of planar support elements 108.

As can be seen from Figure 4, the camera mounting element 106 has a first body portion 110 which has parallel sides 110a, 110b and a second body portion 112 which has opposed sides 112a, 112b which flare outwardly from the parallel sidesllOa, 110b. The planar support elements 108 are secured to the outwardly flared sides 112a, 112b of the second body portion 112. The base member 104 has an identical configuration to the camera mounting element 106

The first body portion 110 of both the base member 104 and the camera mounting element 106 both define a circular aperture 114, wherein the circular apertures 114 are vertically aligned and together define a vertical axis.

The outwardly flared sides 112a, 112b are aligned with respective radii from the vertical axis such that the planes of the respective planar support elements 108 are also aligned with respective radii from the vertical axis. The base member 104 and the camera mounting element 106 both define a number of fixing apertures around the central circular aperture 114. The fixing apertures of the base member 104 are used to secure the base member 104 to a post (not shown in Figure 4) and the fixing apertures of the camera mounting element 106 are used to secure a camera housing (also not shown in Figure 4) to the camera mounting element 106.